Lady&#39;s skirt hanger



Nov. 19, 1946.

R. ROBEY LADYS SKIRT HANGER Filed May 24, 1944 lNVENTOR Ralph Kobey ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 19, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LADYS SKIRT HANGER Ralph Robey, New York, N. Y. Application May 24, 1944, Serial No. 537,112

Claims. 1

vItis among the objects of the present invention to provide a ladys skirt hanger of simple, rugged and inexpensive construction devoid of hinging or clamping elements, but of universal application for hanging skirts of various sizes evenly, securely and without slippage, yet without possibility of mutilating the skirt fabric.

In the accompanying drawing in which are shown one or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention, shown in normal position and also indicating in dot and dash lines the relation of the parts when introduced into a skirt band,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of one end of the hanger taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of skirt hanger,

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of said skirt hanger when in use,

Fig. 5 is a detail View in longitudinal crosssection on line 5-5 of Fig. and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 of a modification.

Referring now to Fig. l of the drawing, the hanger comprises a strip In of spring metal, desirably of spring steel, which may be of relatively thin band stock of width in the order of /5 inch and which, as shown in Fig. 1, has a normal set on a single continuous arc of large radius. Rigidly secured to the midsection of the strip, desirably by welding or riveting, is the hanger hook H. To the ends of the spring metal strip ID are rigidly secured rigid lugs l2 and I3, desirably of wood, which serve to engage and hold the skirt band. The attachment of the spring metal strip to the lugs may be by any suitable means, but preferably the ends of. the strip are firmly and frictionally embedded in said lugs as shown at M in Fig. 2, and they may alternatively or in addition to such friction bond be secured by one or more cross-pins shown in full lines at M.

The lugs present a curved surface at the outer or convex side of the strip by which the skirt band is engaged and stretched. To enhance the holding effectiveness of its curved surface the lug is transversely corrugated at I5 as shown. The ribs or corrugations desirably present relatively sharp upper edges it, each rib being cylindrical as at I! adjacent said edge and tapering inward as at I8 to the next rib, as shown. Desirably, also, each lug has a flange 19 at the upper or inner end thereof affording a stop shoulder 20 for the upper edge of the skirt band.

As will be apparent from Fig. l the skirt hanger strip is readily flexed by hand to introduce its lugs l2 and I3 into the skirt band S so that the sharply curved and stressed spring metal strip it] causes the lugs to stretch or tense the skirt band, securely and resiliently to hold the skirt in place.

The rigid lugs embedded extremities and stiffen the end'portions of the strip that are exposed beyond the lugs. Accordingly, the lengths of strip lfl near the lugs I2 and I3 are bent but slightly even under relatively sharp bowing of the strip It]. By reason of such stiffening of the end portions of strip iii, the lugs l2 and i3 cannot toe inward under the metal strip and out of engagement with the skirt band but will be sprung almost directly apart, properly to stretch the skirt band accommodated thereon. Likewise, by reason of the symmetry of the construction, the midsection of the strip it is not deformed materially under the stress imposed upon the strip Iii in use, so that there is no tendency to loosen or break off the hook I I as might occur were the strip sharply bent at its hook mounting middle. The main flexure in stressing the strip for insertion thereof into a skirt band is thus at the regions between sections A and B as indicated in the dot and dash line position in Fig. 1.

The skirt band is stretched effectively between the curved portions of the two lugs 12 and i3 and there is therefore avoided the undesired wrinkling of the skirt band that is frequently incurred where the latter is hung under compression. The corrugations l5 eifectively engage and stretch the skirt band into which they are introduced, so that a very substantial tug 0n the skirt would be required to pull it off the hanger. Shoulders 20 on flange l9 serve as stops for horizontally and evenly positioning the skirt band and avoiding any skew or oblique stress thereon.

In the use of the embodiment just described, were the skirt, especially one of small waist band, to be pulled off the hanger and the stress upon the spring metal strip l0 thus suddenly released, the hanger might snap out of control and startle the user. To guard against this contingency and for other advantages to be pointed out below, the embodiment of Figs. 3 and 4 has been devised. Here loops or cross-pins 2| rigid with and desirably countersunk each in a well 22 in. the desirably flat inner face 23 of the corresponding lug [2, I3 serve as anchors for a tensioning binder, desirably in the form of a flexible band or belt 24 connecting and extending about the loops or l2 and i3 firmly anchor the the skirt band, as the tape added stress imposed upon the hanger when suppins 2| on the lugs l2 and I 3'. Band 24 maintains the spring metal strip H1 in a limiting position of stress as shown in Fig. 3, so that the lugs l2 and I3 are maintained spaced by a maximum distance but little larger than half the waist band length of the largest size of skirt to be hung thereon. The same tension would thus be applied to the skirt band as in the embodiment of Fig. 1, but if. the skirt should be forcefully pulled off a hanger equipped with such band, the same will expand at most but slightly and will not snap out of control.

In a preferred embodiment the belt or band 24 is made adjustable as, for instance, by resort to a slide buckle 25. In addition, the band, which is preferably in the form of a tape, has scale markings 26 thereon, by resort to which the buckle, which is mounted at the beginning of the scale may be releasably set opposite that scale marking corresponding to the waist line measure of the skirt to be hung thereon. It is understood, of course, that each scale measure would correspond to the circumference of the skirt band to be accommodated and not necessarily to the length of the tensioning binder, belt or band 24. The latter may not be exactly equal in length to is relaxed under the porting a skirt, as suggested in Fig. 4. When the tensioning binder, band or belt 24 is properly set for the size of skirt band to be carried, the hanger as above noted, will not snap out of control if the skirt should be forcefully pulled off.

The lugs in either embodiment may be of plastic, if desired, which may be mounted by molding the same about the extremities of the strip I 0. The latter may be perforated as at 21 in Fig. 6, so that the molded plastic bridges 28 therethrough aiford a secure keying and stiffening bond between the spring metal strip and the lug.

The skirt hanger, it will be seen, is devoid of any hinging elements or of clamps or clips to compress the skirt band, or of pivoting pieces or of helical hinge springs apt to come loose or distorted in operation or of grappling hooks likely to penetrate or injure the fabric of the skirt.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained 4 in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A ladys skirt hanger comprising a strip of spring metal set to extend normally in a single continuous arc of large radius, rigid lugs extending in the direction of the ends of said strip and fixedly embedding a substantial length of the same to form a unitary structure stiffened at its ends and a hanger hook mounted at the mid point of said strip.

2. A ladys skirt hanger comprising an elongated strip of spring metal set to extend normally in a continuous arc of large radius, lugs embedding the extremities of said strip rigid therewith and stiffening the same, each of said lugs presenting a relatively flat surface at the' concave side of said strip, and a curvedsurface at the convex side thereof, said latter-surface constituting the skirt band engaging portion and having a series of transverse corrugations for added frictional engagement with the skirt band.

3. A ladys skirt hanger comprising a strip of spring metal set to extend normally in a continuous arc of large radius, rigid lugs rigidly affixed to the extremities of said strip and imparting stiffness to the end portions of said strip, and a tensiom'ng binder connecting said lugs and maintaining said strip tensed under sharper curvature, but yielding to permit further stressing thereof.

4. The combination recited in claim 3 inwhich the lugs present cross-pins for mountin the tensioning binder and the latter is adjustable in length to permit variation in the size of the hanger for adaptation to various sizes of skirt band.

5. A ladys skirt hanger comprising a spring metal strip, rigid lugs rigidly affixed to the ends thereof, each of said lugs having a convex outer skirt engaging portion and having rigid therewith a cross-pin, a flexible band connecting said cross-pins and having a scale along the length thereof and an adjustment buckle to set the length of said band for maintaining the spring metal strip under limiting tension adapted to the size of skirt band to be carried thereby. I

RALPH Ronny. 

